Feature Article     Memories of July 4th by Dorothy Doremus               If you are like most families, you will be participating in some festivities for the holiday.  The traditional fare usually consists of picnics, barbeques and fireworks to top the fun.  As a kid, I really looked forward to the annual family fun.             For starters, we always had a barbeque at my uncle’s house because he had one acre of land which provided us kids with plenty of room to play.  Being the mischievous niece I was, we always ran down to my uncle’s pigeon coop and took out some feathers that had fallen off of the homing pigeons.  Then we’d run back to taunt my aunt who was terrified of feathers.  This always made us howl with laughter.             My uncle would put up a volleyball net and horseshoe spikes, but that was for the adults - we were too small to play.  Instead, we would play baseball and any game that involved running like tag and Red Rover.  I had so many grass stains on my shorts by the end of the day that my mom would spend hours scrubbing them the next day.  Running around, laughing and getting messy was the best time.  I was blessed to have some very athletic cousins to polish my skills against.  As we grew older, we were allowed to play with the horseshoes.  Again, my badseeded side took over and I almost hit my dad with a horseshoe by overthrowing.  Oops!             Food was also great – hotdogs and hamburgers, beans (gotta have beans!), potato chips, watermelon, soda and ice cream.  It was a kids heaven and about one of the few times of the year that my mom would let us have soda, unlike today when soda flows like water.  We had soda in glass bottles that tasted like they just made it at the store.  The watermelon had seeds that all of the kids would spit at each other.  I know, gross, but we were kids.              My dad was a volunteer firefighter with years of training.  He taught us to respect fire and fireworks.  My dad would supervise the fireworks.  I loved sparklers which are sticks you light and sparks come off of.  You could write in the air with them.  We also had cones that, when lit, shot colorful sparks out of.  I didn’t love fire crackers – they were annoying, especially when my older cousins decided it would be cute to blow up several food items with them.             Now it seems that the 4th of July has come and gone like a Macy’s one day sale.  It’s no longer about celebrating the good old USA with family and friends.  It’s about what you can get on sale.  With almost everyone working just to make ends meet, it seems we have forgotten to go back to the basics.  So try to bring some of the fine memories to life this holiday and have a happy 4th of July!     For feedback, visit our message board or e-mail the author at g-pop@g-pop.net.